We are going to present some activities of the Montessori method that you can apply from home and in children from 0-3 years old.

Do you want to develop skills and competences in your children from a young age? Doing so can make a big difference and you’ll even appreciate it.

Montessori Activities for Children

The Montessori method has shown that it has great results in its students and if you apply it your children will learn skills that are not taught in traditional schools.

Activities for children from 6-12 months

1. Treasure box

We not only see that it is used in Montessori activities but also in other types of environments.

Objectives: The child explore and analyze the material that surrounds him autonomously.

Procedure: In a basket or in a cardboard box we have to put the objects that we think convenient. For example: a toothbrush, spoons, hair bands, ties, a small ball …

Materials: All the material that we want, it is important that we do not load the box or the basket that we use.

2. We change the site objects!

Objectives: To explore and analyze that each material has its size and that not all fit in the same place.

Procedure: In a large tray we can put different materials such as chickpeas or chestnuts. Also, previously we will have placed spoons and cardboard tubes of different sizes with a part of them covered, so that they become small little pots.

The children have to transfer the chickpeas and chestnuts from one place to another either with the help of the spoon, with the fingers or as they want. In this way they will verify that there will be tubes in which both chickpeas and chestnuts will fit, while in another they will only be able to put one of them.

Materials: paper cardboard paper tubes, a cardboard or paper to cover one of the parts of this, chickpeas and chestnuts or other material, a large tray and wooden spoons.

3. Sensory trays

Objectives: To explore and analyze the different textures of the materials in each tray.

Procedure: Use different trays with materials that have different textures to each other and close them to the child. Our intention is that you explore and play with them by exploring their content carefully. You can choose the content you want, the important thing is that its texture is different from each other. For example: flour, lentils, uncooked or cooked pasta, chickpeas …

Materials: three or four trays and the material with which you want to fill them, be it lentils, flour or pasta, among others.

Activities for children 12-18 months

4. We learn to open boats

Objectives: The child works fine motor skills and learns to open and close boats.

Procedure : in a basket you will find different types of boats, both in size and material. I usually use the boats that are being used in the kitchen, such as spices, among others. As long as they are of different sizes and materials, everything works.

Materials: cans of different sizes and materials, a basket or a small cardboard box.

5. We draw

Objectives: Develop your creativity and have fun.

Procedure: As you know, there are finger paints that are edible or even that can be made from home simply with a yogurt and food coloring, I leave that to your choice.

On a piece of paper or cardboard, the child should paint whatever he wants while exploring the texture of the painting and the base he is using to paint. This activity usually likes them a lot especially for the different colors that the painting has.

Materials: if you decide to make your painting in a homemade way you will need yoghurts and food colors of different colors, also sheets and cardboards. The bigger they are the better in case you want to do the activity with several children.

6. Fabric set

Objectives: Develop your imagination and discover that there are different types of fabrics.

Procedure: You already know that there are many forms and games to use fabrics with children. However, since we are using the Montessori method we must let it develop its imagination and play with fabrics as best you prefer. When you show curiosity if you want, we can show you some games for which it is necessary to have a handkerchief.

Materials : handkerchief of different colors and shapes.

Activities for children 18-24 months

At this age they can already do many activities for practical life that apart from promoting their independence, it helps them to work fine psycho motor skills, prepare future writing, etc. Here are some activities:

7. We match socks

Objectives: Identify socks of the same color and size.

Procedure: In a basket we will put different socks of colors and sizes. The idea is that the child knows how to match them and identify that this is what he has to do and not something else. So that the activity catches your attention the ideal thing is that the socks have striking colors.

Materials: socks of different sizes and colors and shoe or basket box.

8. Threading activities

Objectives: Work fine and gross psychomotricity.

Procedure: Although there are also games and materials that can be purchased in stores. We can also use other home appliances with which children can string objects. This activity consists of the children having to put objects inside the cord in the order they want.

Materials: shoelaces or tracksuits, buttons, kitchen paper tubes cut into different sizes, plastic tube of pens, pieces of fabric with a hole in the center … You can use any material you can think of.

9. We explore our environment

Objectives: Discover what your environment is made of.

Procedure: Although the best thing is that they go out and explore it for themselves if the time allows to go out to recess. We can also work the environment that surrounds us using trays that we can fill with stones, sand, mud, water and tree leaves.

This activity can also serve to show that there are materials in the water that float and others that do not, although for that it would be better to use instead of a tray like the ones we have been using, another one of a deeper and transparent type.

Materials: leaves, stones, sand, mud, water and everything we want to use that is in the playground.

Activities for children 24-36 months

10. Liquid transfers

Objectives: To explore the water in the different containers.

Procedure: A plastic vase with water and others next to different sizes will be placed. The child will have to play to transfer the water from one container to another in order to check that the amount of water that fits in one container can also be occupied by others of different sizes.

Materials: containers of different sizes and a vase full of water.

11. Imitate the drawing

Objectives: Develop visual and attention skills.

Procedure: You are presented with different drawings that are easy to imitate. Children have to copy them with the help of colored pencils and sugar and salt. They can also be encouraged to make them their own.

Materials: drawings made by the teacher with colored pencils, sugar and salt; colors, sugar and salt and finally folios.

12. We classify objects by colors

Objectives: Identify that each object has a different color.

Procedure: The child is presented with materials with different colors. Erasers, pencils, pencil sharpeners, cases, papers … Everything that we have near or is part of their environment. The child must place the materials that are of the same color in their corresponding basket.

Materials: baskets of colors and the materials of different color that we want to use.

13. What cap goes with each object?

Objectives: To develop fine motor skills and know how to identify which cap goes with each boat.

Procedure: In a cardboard box place bottles, jars and jars of different sizes with their corresponding caps removed and mixed. The child will have to identify which cover goes with each of them and place it.

Materials: plastic bottles, jars or any other object with a lid that can be used to perform this activity.

Tips

As we already know, each child is different so even though we have classified these activities in stages it does not mean that they can be done by all children in general.

This method is governed by the fact that the child is the one who is going to control the duration of the activities he carries out, including the activities and his learning. The teacher or the adult with whom he does it, only has to worry about giving the child the right environment to be able to learn, not intervening or avoiding stopping his spontaneous movements.

The activities that we have explained here should be put in the right environment and presented to the child when he shows attention for it, taking into account that at these ages attention is very short, so you have to show them how the activity would develop with our example.

The main objective that governs this method is “help me do it myself”, so that children have to learn on the fly to incorporate the sense of learning and achievement in the tasks and activities they perform daily. Many activities of this method are inspired to promote self-sufficiency, to have an integrated control of the error, to appeal to the senses and / or to prepare the muscles of the fingers to hold the pencil.